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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

What is insta-love?Love at first sight aka Insta-Love is a common trope used in both literature and film where a character feels romantically attracted to a complete stranger at first sight.These authors say it best:

“Colpo di fulmine. The thunderbolt, as Italians call it. When love strikes someone like lightning, so powerful and intense it can’t be denied. It’s beautiful and messy,cracking a chest open and spilling their soul out for the world to see. It turns a person inside out, and there’s no going back from it. Once the thunderbolt hits, your life is irrevocably changed.”

― J.M. Darhower, Sempre

“I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you.”

― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

Do you believe in insta-love?

Insta-attraction? Yes. But insta-love? Not really. But let's agree to disagree shall we?Again these authors sum it up perfectly:

“Love is the strangest, most illogical thing in the world.”

― Jennifer E. Smith, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

“And when her eyes met mine, I felt something click, like a key turning in a lock. Believe me, I'm no romantic, and while I've heard about love at first sight, I've never believed in it, and I still don't. But even so, there was something there, something recognizably real, and I couldn't look away.”

― Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

Today I'll be showcasing some movies both animated and live action that use this trope. Surprisingly, there seems to be a LOT of movies where the protagonists experiences instantaneous attraction for their love interests. And despite the unrealistic nature of this concept a lot of people(myself included) seem to ADORE these movies.

Monday, February 24, 2014

I am absolutely delighted to welcome author of Ask Again Later, Liz Czukas to the blog today to share a Guest Post on How blogging has helped her writing career. Her debut, Ask Again Later will be hitting the shelves on the 11th of March 2014!So without further ado let me turn the blog over to Liz.....

How has blogging helped your writing career?

This is kind of a funny topic for me, because I consider myself to be a terrible blogger! But I have had a blog since 2009, so I guess maybe I'm not as bad as I thought? Or is is that I just don't know when to quit? Hmm...

When I first got started, I was very enthusiastic about blogging. It was a really fun outlet to put down my thoughts on just about anything! And I did. Which isn't really the best method for drawing traffic to a blog. People kind of want to know what they're going to get when they come to your little corner of the internet and I definitely wasn't delivering anything consistent. I talked a lot about writing--surprise, surprise--as I felt my way through the early stages of trying to become an actual, professional writer. That's interesting to the very active on-line writing community, but on the other hand, a lot of people had already said what I was trying to say. I felt kind of lost.

I think as a reader, there's nothing more boring than a blogger who clearly isn't enjoying herself. That was pretty obvious in my own stuff. Not so much in the beginning, but as time went on and I could feel myself forcing it. It wasn't good and I knew it. I'm pretty sure everyone else knew it, too.

It wasn't until I gave myself permission to stop updating it regularly that I started to enjoy blogging again. I would only write about things that inspired me, or do blog hops that seemed like fun. Anything that was challenging, interesting, or different. That's more fun for me than focusing on regular updates.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

I am absolutely delighted to welcome Strange Chemistry Author,Rachel Neumeier to the blog today to share a Guest Post on Striking the Balance Between Writing and Life.

Rachel's Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Paranormal novel, Black Dog was released on the 6th of February 2014 by Strange Chemistry!So without further ado let me turn the blog over to Rachel....

Striking the Balance Between Writing and Life

Once during a panel at a convention, one of the panelists asked everyone who was a professional writer to raise their hands. A lot of people in the audience raised theirs, including me. Then she asked everyone to keep their hands up if they made a point of writing every day. I was the only one who put my hand down.

Obviously that panelist was making the point that Real Writers make time to write every single day without fail, and I’m sure that’s the message that all the non-writers in the audience got. But I definitely don’t write every day – not even close. When I’m actively working on a new book, I do write every single day, or nearly. But when I’m not, I can go months without writing at all, not counting blog posts and things like that. It’s during that time off that I read most of the fiction I get through in a year, so taking a break is something I really look forward to! It’s also during that time off that I unfold the rest of my life.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

"A Blue So Dark is a raw, compelling and eloquent portrayal of art and madness, and the freeing, healing gift of creativity. Schindler's voice is brilliant and true."

—Carrie Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Need and Captivate

Holly Schindler's Young Adult Contemporary read, A Blue So Dark has garnered so much praise since it's release so I'm definitely excited to be a part of the cover reveal for Holly's new Young Adult release, FERAL!Both the gorgeous cover and the intriguing synopsis for FERAL promise nothing short of an amazing read that'll grip the reader from the start.Check out the cover for FERAL....

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Today I have three very special guests on the blog. Not only are they certified bookworms and awesome-sauce bloggers but they are also super-talented blog designers.They are here to to share their expertise on the art of blog designing. Say hello to:Amelia Robinson of The Authoress and Visualesque

Q1: When did you start designing blogs? And what inspired you to do so?

Amelia: I have been designing blogs as long as I've been blogging so that would be going on five years now. I was a graphic designer for various sites before I was a blogger, and also I had spent a fair amount of time on RPG sites so I knew a respectable amount of understanding of codes. I didn't have the money to put towards a custom design (I'm too changeable for that, anyhow) and I couldn't find any pre-made templates that suited me very well. So I started tinkering. Well designed blogs made by fantastic designers were my teachers.Stephanie: I started designing blogs for other people about a month after I started my own blog, which was August of last year. I started designing blogs because I wanted to practice HTML and CSS for college. I'm currently majoring in web design and computer programming.Mitchii: Designing blogs for other people just started last December but I’ve been designing my blog since 2010. I was so uncomfortable with pre-made templates. I wanted something that’s totally mine so I decided to learn how to design a wordpress theme and that’s where it all started. When I saw Emily and she wanted a custom made WP theme I decided to help her out. I really didn’t expect that other people will want my services. It was really mind blowing.

Q2: What is your favorite look for book blogs?

Amelia: My design style is minimalist but that is because I am limited by what I don't know. But as for the designs I admire, I am a fan of anything and everything that is put together in a logical way. I say "logical" instead of "non-cluttered" because even cluttered looking designs can look fantastic.

Stephanie: I do love the cute and colorful book blogs. Honestly, I'm not very picky on the "theme" of your blog as long as it's not cluttered. If I have to wait forever for your sidebar and posts to load, I'm going to hit the backspace button. My favorite blog design would probably be Lit Up Review.

Mitchii: Minimalism accentuated by pastel colors or watercolor elements. I love simple design especially for blogs. Blog is a whole different platform than a normal website. You have to make sure that the content will standout while still leaves a good impression from your visitor. I’m always a big believer of less is more.

Q3: What elements would you consider as 'sidebar essentials'? Is there anything else that you think a blog design MUST include?

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

My Thoughts

My first thought when I first saw this book was; “Dang that’s one awesome cover.” Only now, I realize that I have once again fallen for the trick of having a good cover in exchange for a meh story.I’d been thinking of how sad it is that everytime I post something here at Say it With Books, so when I first saw this book. I thought I would finally be giving Nuz my first five star review for the blog. Unfortunately, its not as amazing as the cover is.